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Canada

Holiday to be renamed every year

Nova Scotia is turning to its students to help give a new name each year to a February holiday, starting in 2015 with "Viola Desmond," the government announced Monday.

"Not only will students help name the February holiday, they'll help us come up with a list of some of the remarkable people, places and events that have made Nova Scotia what it is today," Advance Education Minister Kelly Regan stated in a press release.

Student submissions must include a general name for the holiday that gives pride in being a Nova Scotian and recognizes a significant cultural and/or historic contribution, the release stated.

Desmond was an African Nova Scotian businesswoman wrongfully jailed and fined in 1946 for refusing to give up her seat in the white people's section of movie theatre.

A panel will review the submissions and recommend them to Regan, who will announce the next 12 holiday names before the end of the school year.